In celebration of the inaugural Gap Year Decision Day, HMI is excited to welcome an incredible group of students for our 2017 and 2018 gap semesters. Gap Year Decision Day is a nation-wide initiative to encourage students to declare their gap year plans through social media outlets. The National College Signing Day, a movement started by Michelle Obama to celebrate students going to college, inspired the concept of Gap Year Decision Day. As gap years are increasingly popular, leading to numerous reported positive benefits, leaders within the Gap Year Industry, including USA Gap Year Fairs, American Gap Association, Go Overseas, and EnRoute Consulting, are spearheading the opportunity to provide students taking a gap year their time to shine and come together as a cohesive group.
Alia Paltos, Director of USA Gap Year Fairs, explains: “We hope that Gap Year Decision Day will empower students by allowing them to feel like a connected community … The possibilities for a gap year are endless, so this initiative will demonstrate to the public just how many students are taking gap time and exactly what students are planning to do.”
Now in our third year, HMI has expanded our program offerings to include a wilderness-focused gap semester through the American West and Patagonia in the fall, and a semester in Patagonia in the spring. Our students come from all over the country and with diverse backgrounds, yet they express the same desire to step into the world to learn more about themselves and broaden their perspective so they can pursue their ambitions in life with purpose, passion, and preparedness.